Thanks Yosuke and Patrick for organizing this. I have seen many great gigs from Embrace of Thorns, Abigail, Dead Congregation (no new album: release a live-album!!!!!), Proclamation (too bad for the last time!), Pseudogod (too short, do not soundcheck, just play), Sabbat (boys having metal fun), Ares Kingdom and Blasphemy after 20-years.

Holy shit! You were standing next to me (at least almost) on Revenge/Blasphemy. So thanks A LOT for the vids. Like experiencing the gigs again... Almost._________________Todays modern science is your modern religion.

I talked with D.N after the show and he was quite disappointed with the gig, even though it did sound very good where I was standing (the right side). He said the stage crew were clueless how to work with metal bands and that's why there was such a delay to start. I noticed many other bands struggled with those monitors too so it was not just the case of Pseudogod._________________

Kojiri wrote:

To buy lots of die hards, see them ebayed before you, and hear the lamentations of NWN.

rauta wrote:

I have this record and can someone tell me what it sounds like, please.

I talked with D.N after the show and he was quite disappointed with the gig, even though it did sound very good where I was standing (the right side). He said the stage crew were clueless how to work with metal bands and that's why there was such a delay to start. I noticed many other bands struggled with those monitors too so it was not just the case of Pseudogod.

I was standing in the middle and the sound was not that bad. I was really looking forward to see this band. They have the right spirit and their music is just blasting. Never mind, I saw them and noticed that they were disappointed. But other bands had a good sound (Proclamation, Dead Congregation). But they played there before so maybe they expected this? I do not know. What I also noticed was that the volume on day 2 was lower than on day 1.

Could be. I think only band with kind of bad sound was Adorior. Guitars were barely audible and snare was missing completely from the mix... But otherwise the sounds were a lot better than on the first fest in 2009.

Phil did awesome work behind the desk when he was able to do it (like Ares Kingdom)._________________

Kojiri wrote:

To buy lots of die hards, see them ebayed before you, and hear the lamentations of NWN.

rauta wrote:

I have this record and can someone tell me what it sounds like, please.

Could be. I think only band with kind of bad sound was Adorior. Guitars were barely audible and snare was missing completely from the mix... But otherwise the sounds were a lot better than on the first fest in 2009.

Phil did awesome work behind the desk when he was able to do it (like Ares Kingdom).

Yep, Phil is the best!

I was in the wings during Adorior and the only one I couldn't really hear was Tommy since he was on the far side. Take your word about the sound out front, though.

Needless to say, the fest was killer. Better atmosphere than that big hall where number II was.

Just some words on the band I saw: Blasphemophager did their thing well, pretty good response from the crowd as well (quite lot of Italians at the front), sound was pretty good, performance somewhat static but that fits their style and their mustaches. Solid, I'd say!
Wrathprayer sounded like a wall of noise to me, but then again, I don't really know their album. I'm always somewhat surprised to see people actually recall lyrics and songs from bands like this (and Pseudogod fe).. shows dedication of course, and thinking of it it works for me with Blasphemy too so..
Dead Congregation were tight and professional as usual.
Rotting Christ; I was really curious to hear the old songs but wasn't expecting too much really. The old songs played in the catchy, professional style of modern day RC just didn't do it for me. I prefer the sloppy old recordings and prefer to stick to that.
The band did an excellent and utterly performance and the songs weren't raped.

Adorior the day after; cool performance and Melissa is a great frontwoman.. I only recall the debut album 'Like cutting the sleeping' and the style did somewhat change over the years; way more thrashy, raw and extreme.
I've seen Black Witchery about 10 times I guess and I must say this was their least powerful gig. The drummer was having a hard time keeping up and the sound on stage must've been crap as I noticed quite a few mistakes. Looks like I'm the only one though. Not that it was a bad concert, I've just seen them play much better..
Proclamation, nothing to say really: solid in their sloppiness.
Then SABBAT, the band I was most looking forward too and for me the winner: fucking powerfull, crazy Japanese, real enthusiasm on the stage and in the crowd too. Gezol is a great frontman and the leatherboy outfits are great too! What can I say but complain that it was way too short? For such a short set I would've preferred a 'old songs only' set really.. The smashed guitar in the end was nice (same with Blasphemphager if I recall well). Oh, and the drums sounded somewhat too modern. But still, at the front the sound was great!
BLASPHEMY: it's always impressive to see these human bulldozers on the stage. The sound was much better than the previous edition and the set was great; all the classics there. When standing at the back of the hall it was really cool to see such a sea of fists, headbanging and violence in front of the stage.

Great fest, hail to the organizers for setting this up! Must be a nightmare of an organization..

Two minuses: too many bands so all the bands were forced to play short sets
Ending the fest so early. I know the reason, but still, it's somewhat of downer to be done at 22:30 in the evening._________________www.new-era-productions.nl